Hornbeck is using a metaphor to compare the inchristian acts of Sodom and Gommorrah to the "sinful" act that Bert Cates is being accused of. He is mocking the beliefs of Christians by thinking of Sodom and Gommorrah as a joke and not believing it actually did happen. Although he was making fun of the beliefs of the townspeople in what he was saying, he didn't make fun of the in the article.
Your are very correct in saying that he is mocking the beliefs of the Hillsboro people. However, it's not so much that he doesn't believe that Sodom and Gomorrah didn't happen. He is using his cynical wit to emphasize how rediculous the towns people are for believing that a "big city", like Cleveland, and its citizen's modernist beliefs would be compared to Sodom and Gomorrah by the people of Hillsboro. Clevlend still exists. Their beliefs didn't force God to smite the city with fire and brimstone.
Mr. R
Your are very correct in saying that he is mocking the beliefs of the Hillsboro people. However, it's not so much that he doesn't believe that Sodom and Gomorrah didn't happen. He is using his cynical wit to emphasize how rediculous the towns people are for believing that a "big city", like Cleveland, and its citizen's modernist beliefs would be compared to Sodom and Gomorrah by the people of Hillsboro. Clevlend still exists. Their beliefs didn't force God to smite the city with fire and brimstone.
Mr. R